Students celebrate bass hatchery program
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
A 19-foot koi kite hanging outside the cafeteria waved in the students at Wahiawa Middle School yesterday.
But not for Boys' Day.
The bright blue fish streamer signified the dedication of a bass hatchery at the school.
The hatchery program began in 1996 following community plans to revitalize the lake.
But the school decided to dedicate the facility, in the back of the school near the lake, yesterday.
"We felt it was time," said Karen Leilani Paty, student activities coordinator at Wahiawa Middle, who helped organize the dedication ceremony. "We never had a formal dedication until today."
And the timing couldn't have been more appropriate.
The dedication coincides with the end of a massive, full-force cleanup of Lake Wilson, after Salvinia molesta covered nearly 95 percent of the 300-acre lake. With the expected reopening of the lake just weeks away, the thousands of bass being raised at the school soon will be released into its waters.
The school had been planning the dedication ceremony since December 2002, before the noxious weed's rapid growth made it such an environmental threat.
"The timing is so amazing," Paty said.
The 45-minute ceremony featured a maile lei-untying at the front gate, a hula performance and tours for visitors.
More than 100 students attended the ceremony, and a schoolwide assembly followed in the afternoon.
Sen. Robert Bunda, Rep. Marcus Oshiro, state Department of Education superintendent Pat Hamamoto and state aquatic biologist Glenn Higashi, who helped with the cleanup, were among those who attended.
For the past month, teachers incorporated various aspects of Lake Wilson into the curriculum: Social studies classes discussed the history of the lake; math classes looked at oxygen levels in the lake and growth rates of salvinia; art classes focused on fish-inspired works.
Students were encouraged to participate in 12 different activities, ranging from essay and poetry contests to designing T-shirts and bumper stickers, all with a Lake Wilson theme.
One 'ukulele class wrote an original song about Lake Wilson and played it at the ceremony.
"I felt proud because we're giving back to our community," said Maile Cabinian, 14, an eighth-grader who emceed the ceremony and won fourth place in the poem contest with her piece "Back to the Old."
Her classmate, Kelli Aquino, considers the fish hatchery a way for the school to get involved in helping its community.
"It's helping to improve the fish in Lake Wilson," said the 13-year-old. "I thought (the salvinia) was going to kill all the fish. But now I think we can start rebuilding and improving our economy."
Part of a $90,000 bass reproduction program financed by the federal government and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Aquatics Division, the project's goal is to restock Lake Wilson with fish in an attempt to revitalize the reservoir and Wahiawa's economy by using the bass to lure sport fishermen from around the world.
So far the hatchery houses more than 4,500 bass, stored in large pools and fish tanks.
About 2,500 largemouth bass, at 6 to 8 inches long, have been ready for release into the lake since February. The latest spawn in late March produced 2,000 more bass.
The bass will be released into the lake as soon as the state and federal governments deem the lake ready.
"I think the only thing the students have learned is that the community can work together," Paty said. "This is our community. It's really sad driving over the bridge and seeing all that green stuff in the lake. It was like graffiti. But to see it being cleaned up and getting all this attention, to get the lake back, what a way to feel."
Reach Catherine E. Toth at 535-8103 or ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.
